Right Wing Religion

By Sky Palma Raw Story (4/8/20) Pastor Tony Spell of Life Tabernacle Church in Baton Rouge spoke to TMZ this Wednesday, saying that if his church members die from coronavirus, they’ve done so in the name of religious freedom. Spell was charged with violating an executive order that bans churches from holding large gatherings, but showed his defiance last Tuesday by holding a service that was attended by over 1,000 people. Speaking to TMZ, Spell said that true Christians would be willing to die from coronavirus, adding that those who “prefer tyranny over freedom do not deserve freedom.” “The bible teaches us to be absent from our bodies so…

Price of your ticket to heaven: $91 By Hemant Mehta The Friendly Atheist (3/17/20) If it involves the Trump administration and a crisis, you know there’s probably grifting involved. Enter Paula White, Trump’s “spiritual adviser” and the head of the White House’s “Faith and Opportunity Initiative” program. During a roughly 30-minute Facebook prayer session this afternoon, White talked about how the Bible can help us through the coronavirus quarantine… before making a direct request for seed money from everyone watching. Because what good is prayer without profit? Here’s the relevant portion: “Churches do so much. Not just from a humanitarian standpoint, but the greatest thing…

Grandstanding, Lying, Praying It Away: Dear God & Hookers For Jesus, Please Send Help By Abby Zimet Common Dreams (3/9/20) Oh man. Apocalypse now or soon: Spreading virus, plunging markets, growing evidence of “gross amateur hour incompetence” by our ill-equipped fake prez and his band of Christian zealots, headed by inept Vice-Pastor Pence. On Monday, WHO confirmed over 108,000 cases of coronavirus around the world, and at least 3,800 deaths. In the U.S., there are at least 500 cases and 22 deaths – despite Trump’s blithe pronouncement a few weeks ago the hoax’s 15 cases would soon be zero – with daily reports of spread. Facing…

  By Amanda Marcotte Salon (3/3/20) It’s one of the most enduring conundrums of the Donald Trump era: How is it that the Christian right, the self-appointed monitors of American morality, have come to so enthusiastically back a thrice-married chronic adulterer who lies as easily as he breathes? Author Katherine Stewart has the answer: Because the true god these folks worship is power. In her book, “The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism,” Stewart details how she traveled around the country, getting to know the various Christian conservative figures that are whipping support for Trump and his agenda. She…

By Kenya Evelyn The Guardian (2/11/20) A Rhode Island priest who sought to ban pro-choice lawmakers from receiving communion has suggested abortion is worse than child abuse. “We are not talking about any other moral issue, where some may make it a comparison between pedophilia and abortion,” the Rev Richard Bucci told local TV station WJAR. “Pedophilia doesn’t kill anyone and this does.” The priest made headlines last week after posting a list of 44 state lawmakers who would be barred from communion because of their support for reproductive rights. “When he says that pedophilia doesn’t kill people, well, he clearly doesn’t understand. He…

“Let people practice their faiths however they see fit. But respect my freedom from religion as much as I respect your freedom of it.” By Steven Singer Gadfly On The Wall (1/24/20) When I was a kid back in middle school, I had a crush on this girl, let’s call her Patty. She wasn’t the most popular or beautiful girl in class, but I kinda’ liked her. Of course, she had no idea I was alive. Or so I thought, until one day she walked straight up to my desk and started rubbing my hair. I was shocked at first, but then…

By Matthew Chapman Raw Story (12/30/19) Attorney General William Barr is worse than a simple right-wing partisan, wrote religious nationalism biographer Katherine Stewart and former American Constitutional Society president Caroline Fredrickson for The New York Times. Rather, they argued, he is best understood as a fanatical theocrat who believes America is damned to burn in hell — and seeks to use the powers of his office to course correct the nation’s sinful ways. “Why would a seemingly respectable, semiretired lion of the Washington establishment undermine the institutions he is sworn to uphold, incinerate his own reputation, and appear to willfully misrepresent the reports…

By Matthew Chapman Raw Story (11/26/19) On CNN Tuesday, former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci broke down why Republicans like Energy Secretary Rick Perry and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley are suggesting that President Donald Trump was chosen by God. “They’re signaling to the president that they’re ultra-loyal to him,” said Scaramucci. “Remember, you’ve got to go 13 for 12 with the president. You can’t go 7 for 8, because then they’ll start tweeting about you all kinds of nonsense. They need to signal to him that they’re 100 percent or 130 percent loyal to him. But they’re also…

By Travis Getty The Raw Story (11/15/19) MSNBC’s Donny Deutsch warned President Donald Trump’s associates to ignore advice from the president’s attorneys, because they’ve already landed someone in prison. The “Morning Joe” contributor revealed that Trump’s personal attorney Jay Sekulow, a religious right media figure, has already gotten former Trump Organization attorney Michael Cohen sent to prison to protect the president. “I’m going to give them the number, it’s 1-800-Otisville, and they should all call Michael,” said Deutsch, a friend of Cohen’s. “None of these people are going to tell anything but the truth. By the way, the lie (Cohen)…

[Editor’s Note: The hypocrisy and Orwellian levels of sycophancy of these evangelical charlatans and hustlers zooms off the chart into crazy land. — Mark L. Taylor] By David Badash Raw News (11/1/19) President Donald Trump’s evangelical Christian supporters laid hands on and prayed for the president this week in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, just days before the House of Representatives voted to pass impeachment inquiry procedures. Among those in attendance, hate group head Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council; Former GOP Congresswoman and failed presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann; Fox News contributor, and anti-Muslim, anti-Catholic, and Judaism Dallas megachurch…

  By Travis Gettys Raw Story (10/9/19) President Donald Trump’s spiritual adviser Paula White says she was ordered by God to serve the Republican president. The prosperity gospel pastor explained that she was compelled to serve as chair of Trump’s evangelical advisory board. “Literally, the God aspect, like, what God told me to do, how I even got involved, because the one thing that I said, I’ll never do politics,” White said. “But when it came down to it, it wasn’t about doing politics, it was about an assignment. To say no to President Trump would be saying no to…

By Brad Reed New Civil Rights Movement (9/18/19) The number of Americans identifying as atheists is increasing — and recent social science research suggests that the Christian Right is playing a key role in making that happen. As reported by Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight, new research has found that distaste for Trump-loving Christian conservatism has not just turned some Americans off from individual churches but from religion altogether. “As recently as the early 1990s, less than 10 percent of Americans lacked a formal religious affiliation, and liberals weren’t all that much likelier to be nonreligious than the public overall,” FiveThirtyEight notes….

The rise of corporate religous nationalism. By Ron Briley History News Network (3/23/16) The 2016 annual meeting for the Organization of American Historians (OAH) will feature a session focusing upon the provocative book One Nation Under God by Princeton history professor Keven M. Kruse. In One Nation Under God, Kruse argues that the idea of the United States as a Christian nation does not find its origins with the founding of the United States or the writing of the Constitution. Rather, the notion of America as specifically consecrated by God to be a beacon for liberty was the work of corporate and religious…

“Somebody’s gotta tell the freakin’ truth’.” By Brandon Ambrosino Politico (9/9/19) At Liberty University, all anyone can talk about is Jerry Falwell Jr. Just not in public. “When he does stupid stuff, people will mention it to others they consider confidants and not keep it totally secret,” a trusted adviser to Falwell, the school’s president and chancellor, told me. “But they won’t rat him out.” That’s beginning to change. Over the past year, Falwell, a prominent evangelical leader and supporter of President Donald Trump, has come under increasing scrutiny. News outlets have reported on business deals by Liberty University benefiting Falwell’s friends. Trump’s former personal…

By Ed Mazza HuffPost (9/2/19) A right-wing evangelical leader on Sunday claimed mass shootings are caused by “driving God from the public square” and more specifically by teaching kids science such as evolution in schools. “We’ve taught our kids that they come about by chance through primordial slime and then we’re surprised that they treat their fellow Americans like dirt,” Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, said on “Fox & Friends” one day after a gunman in Texas killed 7 and wounded 21 others. He added: “I think we have to go back to the point where we instill in…

“I have a great relationship with God.” By Lee Moran HuffPost (8/23/19) An old video in which President Donald Trump dodges questions about the Bible is going viral again in light of the president’s new claim that he is the “chosen one.” In the 2015 interview on Bloomberg Politics that Twitter user @Caring_Atheist shared online Wednesday, Trump (who’d earlier called the Bible his favorite book) appears reluctant to reveal his favorite verses. “Because to me that’s very personal,” Trump sidesteps. “You know, when I talk about the Bible it’s very personal so I don’t want to get into verses. The…

Trump-Loving Evangelicals Say They’re Grateful Trump Has Saved Them From Seeing Obama’s Rainbow White House By Brad Reed Raw Story (8/13/19) Conservative evangelical Christians in the United States are President Donald Trump’s most staunch supporters, despite the fact that the president is a serial adulterer who has been accused by multiple women of sexual assault and who regularly deploys racist attacks on political opponents. A Washington Post profile of Trump-loving evangelicals shows that many of them felt they were under assault by former President Barack Obama — and one of them pointed to the Obama White House lighting up in rainbow colors in…

By Bob Bigham Raw Story (7/18/19) Multiple victims have come forward to accuse a New Jersey pastor of sexually assaulting them as part of exorcism rituals. “Three men have come forward claiming Rev. Dr. William Weaver performed sex acts on them when they came to him for private counseling at Linden Presbyterian Church,” Newsweek reportedThursday. “Weaver, 69, would allegedly tell the men that he needed to ‘suck’ out demons through their semen, citing Native American rituals and a verse from Ephesians telling Christians to ‘put on the full armor of God.’” “According to impact statements the men submitted to the Presbytery of…

“I love that they are going to write to Netflix to try and get #GoodOmens cancelled. Says it all really. This is so beautiful … Promise me you won’t tell them?” By Alison Ford The Guardian (6/20/19) More than 20,000 Christians have signed a petition calling for the cancellation of Good Omens, the television series adapted from Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s 1990 fantasy novel – unfortunately addressing their petition to Netflix when the series is made by Amazon Prime. The six-part series was released last month, starring David Tennant as the demon Crowley and Michael Sheen as the angel Aziraphale, who collaborate to…

The Commoner Call (6/20/19) Given the untoward influence far right evangelical and fundamentalist churches have on the republican party and public policy, it is important to expose the multiple hypocrisies to be found among many in the fundamentalist religious/political movement. Throughout all fascist governments far too many churches and clergy play important roles in defending, promoting, excusing, minimizing and sometimes even participating in government abuse. This is a pattern that is certainly seen with the Trump administration. The Commoner Call will be running an occasional feature of recent reports of fundamentalist religious abuses. As the collection of tawdry church news…

  “I think the whole cloak of secrecy with the Catholic Church needs to be exposed.” [Harris’s presidential campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Intercept.] By Lee Fang The Intercept (6/9/19) KAMALA HARRIS, SURROUNDED by thousands of cheering supporters, kicked off her presidential campaign in Oakland earlier this year, declaring that she has always fought “on behalf of survivors of sexual assault, a fight not just against predators but a fight against silence and stigma.” Fighting on behalf of victims of sexual abuse, particularly children, has been central to Harris’s political identity for the better part of three…